How to get over your shooter games obsession.
There's a certain comfort in the way a pistol sits in the palm of a man's hand. I don't know if it's an association with the times spent re-enacting Westerns in the backyard or maybe it's because we watch too many action films, but in some strange way there is a familiarity to the cold steel of a 9mm pistol.
"Always, always keep the gun pointed away. Even if it's not loaded," says Mubashir Saleem, senior shooting instructor at Jebel Ali Shooting Club at the Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa. "Don't take anything for granted, these are dangerous toys to play with. That's really lesson number one in shooting."
At the indoor shooting range, I am handed a Czech-made Ceska CZ-75 semi-automatic pistol. But not before I impatiently sit through a five minute safety lecture. And then, the business end – after a quick demo, I load five 9mm Luger bullets into the magazine, jam it into the revolver till it clicks into place and then pull back and release the slide. So far, so Wanted. Now, if only Fox (and her husky voice) could urge me to bend the bullet. Instead David, another instructor, asks me to take aim.
One of the things about firing a pistol is that you need to factor in the recoil, so while my first shot was at least close to the bull's eye (because I had no idea about possible recoil) it all went downhill from there. "Go easy with the trigger. You don't pull the trigger, because if you don't go gently, there's a good chance that your bullet will go everywhere but where you aimed," says David before adding, "it's a lot easier in the movies".
I'm now at an outdoor firing range, armed with a double barrel Beretta shotgun and waiting for the trap to release clay pigeons into the air. Skeet shooting may look impossible – you have to shoot at a moving clay disk (110mm in diameter) giving you a reaction time of just seconds. But I found this easier since you don't have to deliberate over a target as you sometimes do with a stationary target. Skeet shooting is about fast reflexes, more like Lee Van Cliff in For a Few Dollars More. All said and done, shooting's a great way to unwind and if you are bored of FPS games on your PS3, you know where to go now.
THE LOWDOWN
WHERE TO GO: Jebel Ali Shooting Club has a fantastic indoor pistol and outdoor shooting range. The club is currently undergoing an upgrade but will be open for memberships (Dhs2000 annually) from October this year, Dhs130 (25 shotgun cartridges) and Dhs100
(25 bullets), 9am onwards, O4-8836555; Hatta Fort Hotel (Dhs200 for 25 shotgun cartridges), 9am onwards, 04-8523211.
THE EQUIPMENT: Guns, ear muffs and protective goggles are provided by the clubs.
HISTORY: Grouse hunter Charles Davies invented skeet shooting in 1915. The original course was a circle with a radius of 25 yards with its circumference marked off like the face of a clock and a trap set at the 12 o'clock position. Skeet is a recreational and competitive activity where participants attempt to break clay disks flung into the air at high speed from a variety of angles. The weapon of choice is a double-barrel shotgun.
SAFETY: Watch your trigger finger and where you point the gun at all times. Always use firearms under supervision.
